If you’re in the house cleaning service business at some point in your journey you’ve either thought about pricing or have talked to a fellow home services business owner that was going through that process. We’ve heard this question asked many times and it seems that there aren’t many solid suggestions that are being offered by other cleaning professionals on how they arrive at their price. We decided to share a few of our favorite ways to get to a price quickly and correctly without pricing yourself too low (and working for free) or too high (and out of a job).
There are a few basic ways to price a house cleaning. The pricing formats we’ve run across are square footage (an option our house cleaning website template comes built with), hourly, flat fee and room rate. Each of these house cleaning pricing methods has pros and cons. You don’t have to stick to one method, it probably makes sense to try a couple but ultimately to find one way that works for you and to stick to it.
1. Amazon
Amazon home services has been providing their customers with an easy way for them to schedule a cleaning online. Use their home services page as a guide for what they charge their customers. The services aren’t available in all cities but even if it’s not available in your zip code you should be able to get information on a neighboring city which is still relevant information you can use to inform what you might want to charge.
Amazon does have a disclaimer about their pricing – “How do estimates work?
Pros base their estimates on a standard scope of work, and 9 out of 10 customers see no change in final pricing. You will have a chance to review the service details and confirm final pricing with your pro before the work begins”
update – Amazon discontinued home services offerings during the COVID 19 pandemic which means more opportunity for home service providers to capture this demand and turn it into additional business.
2. Handy
Another example of a company that has made house cleaning easy to schedule is Handy. Like amazon Handy has automated their pricing and made it easy for customers looking for home services. Notice how Handy doesn’t even allow one-time cleanings, and they have a minimum 3 month contract. They do however offer huge discounts on longer contracts.
3. Thumbtack
Thumbtack is yet another place to do your pricing research. Thumbtack’s house cleaning pricing calculator allows you to see the range that cleaners are charging for certain jobs. This page also has a ton of additional information that explains what factors affects a price, information you might want to add to your website.
4. Google
The last place we suggest doing your price research on is Google. Just search for local house cleaners and see what they’re charging. Many home services companies are behind the curve on knowing how to price and how to make that easy for customers to access. It may take you a bit more time to find up front pricing of your local cleaners but it’s worth the effort.
Final thoughts. Remember, price is only one part of a decision a home owner will go through before they hire you. But understanding what you should be charging will allow you to quickly and accurately estimate a home service and make money, that’s why you run a business, right? If there’s anything that screams amateur it’s under pricing yourself and getting into a cycle of low priced work that will burn you out. If you price yourself too low you might even end up with cheap clients or worse, no work because potential clients might not be able to rationalize how you’re able to come in so much lower than the competition. They’re probably thinking that your company is not paying for insurance, not paying employees, or just doing something shady. Do yourself and your company a favor and get educated on how to price! Know what a legitimate business would charge for a specific house cleaning job and adjust accordingly.